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Warlock tactics
Basic Strategy The warlock is a very fun class to play, but it is not without its challenges. As a warlock, you will need to learn to use your pets, manage your threat (the amount of hatred a monster has for you), and collect souls. As you grow in levels, your strategies will change slightly, you will have to learn to adapt to new situations and new spells. But however your strategy adjusts, it can usually be boiled down into a few basic concepts. * Use your pet * Use your curses * Use your DOT spells * Use your DD spells * Plan ahead, and steal a soul The different approaches to combat really depend on the pet you are using. So let's look at the pets that a warlock can have, and in what situations we would use them. Before we do however, we should first explain a key concept of the warlock: the Soul Shard. Soul Shards A soul shard is an item that is created by a warlock, when he or she casts the "drain soul" spell on a target, and it dies while the spell is active. A soul may only be captured from a target that would yield the warlock experience, so harvesting is not as easy as it may seem. Once a warlock has a soul shard, they may be used by a variety of spells as reagents. Spells that use soul shards include: pet summoning spells, player transportation spells, and the creation of items such as healthstones (a healing item) and soul stones (an item used to self-ressurect a player). As a warlock, one major tactic, is to always have a soul shard or 2 (or 3!) on hand. This means after you die, you can be back up and running as soon as possible. Your first task once you are out of soul shards should be to get new ones. Pet Strategies Imp Before level 10, a warlock will only be able to summon the Imp. This is a nifty little pet who fires fireballs at enemies. When you gain some levels, you will be able to visit a demon trainer and purchase grimoires to train your pet in new abilities. The imp can gain access to a stamina buff called Blood Pact, as well as a damage sheild called Fire Shield. In general the imp represents the mage type of pet. Lots of damage output, but not alot of hitpoints. They are best NOT taking damage alone (if you can take some for the pet he'll live longer), and they are best suited for cases when you are in a group, where someone else can tank. If you use the imp alone, which you will do as it is the only pet that requires no reagents to summon, you are best suited to using the pet to deliver the most amount of damage as it can, while you do the same. They key with the imp is to kill the monster before it can do to much damage to either you or the imp. Voidwalker At level 10, after completing a quest, you will be able to summon the voidwalker. This pet is a tank, meaning he can absorb alot of damage, while he will not be that useful at dealing it. The key ability of the voidwalker is that he has an ability which acts as a taunt. What that means is that he can cause monsters to find him more threatening than you. That is a good thing, as letting the voidwalker absorb damage will keep you from having to, and he's got alot more room to absorb it. Later abilities of the Voidwalker include sacrifice, kill the beast to become invulnerable for a few seconds, and consume shadows, a pet self heal. The pros of the voidwalker are offset by a cost, namely that in order to summon one, you will need to use a soul shard. If you dont have any, your stuck with the imp. For this reason, it is always best to always have a soul shard handy for if your beast dies, and you need to replace him. The tactics used with the voidwalker are centered around letting him take the damage, while you hurt the monster in a controlled manner. I like to start by casting a curse on it. I prefer to use Curse of Weakness, as that starts the encounter off by lowering the damage a monster can do, and it also does not put alot of threat on yourself. Next I would sick my pet on the target. Its important to do this early so that the voidwalker can attempt to use its taunting ability quickly and get the monster on him. I then follow up with both Immolate, and Corruption, the damage over time spells. The earlier you cast them, the more damage they can do. At this point, I may pause to allow the voidwalker to re-taunt the monster just to be safe. Now, I start whailing on the monster with a direct damage spell like Shadow Bolt, or with my wand or other weapon. I would NOT use searing pain at this point, as that causes alot of threat, and will take the monster off of your pet. Also if you cast your shadow bolts too fast, you will get the monster on you. If that happens, just pause a moment.. take some hits.. and give your pet a chance to re-taunt. Lastly I finish off the monster with a drain soul to get a new soul shard, or just more direct damaging spells. In longer fights, you may need to use Lifetap to convert some of your life into mana, or in worse situations, you may need to use Health Funnel to give your pet some needed life. In either case, you have the option of using Drain Life to suck some of that life back from the monster. Good trade! Succubus At level 20, you will get the rogue pet, the succubus. Besides having a 'distinct' look, the succubus is capable of dealing out damage. While it is contended by users, the succubus is intended to deal out more damage faster than the imp, but be less able to absorb damage as the voidwalker. Basically the succubus is a middle ground pet. It is important to remember that she will also need to be summoned with a soul shard, so you need one ready to call her. The succubus starts with an ability called Lash of Pain. This is basically a direct damage ability that deals about 30 damage to the targt. Later the succubus will gain some Soothing Kiss which is a charming ability. This is useful against humanoid encounters, and can help you deal with multiple monsters at once. The tactics around the succubus are similar to the imp, deal damage fast and share the pain between you. I would approach the combat in the same way as the voidwalker: open with a curse, DOT, follow up with DD, but in this case, I do not hold back on the damage being dealt, even if it puts the monster on me. The damage absorption of the succubus will only help slightly, so I'd rather just dish out the pain. Succubi seem to be very useful in a group where a tank is already present. Having the ability to dish out more damage, and even the occasional charm is deffinitely worth using. She also tends to create some oohs and ahhs because of her scantily clad appearance. The distinctive look of the succubus will also make it clear what to target, and her reduced size compared to the voidwalker makes close quarters fighting easier. The Fellhunter at level 30 Infernal at level 50 Doomguard at level 60 Curses A warlock is allowed to curse a monster with one curse. If more than one warlock attacks a monster, they must use different curses, so make sure to plan with your groupmate as to what curses you are both using. The choice of curse to use depends on the situation. The following is a list of curses and their effects: Curse of Agony - Damage over time curse. Curse of Doom - Deals 3200 damage to its target after 60 seconds. If this damage kills the target there is a chance that a doomguard will appear. Curse of Elements - Reduces the target's fire and frost resistance. Curse of Exhaustion - Slows the target's movement speed. Curse of Recklessness - Lowers the target's armor and slightly increases its attack power. Makes the target immune to fear as well, both all fear-spells and the automatic running off with 15% health, very useful in dungeons. Curse of Shadows - Lowers the target's arcane and shadow resistance. Curse of Tongues - Increases the casting time of the target's spells. Curse of Weakness - Decreases the amount of damage the target deals in combat. When you do not want to taunt a monster too much it is best to use Curse of Weakness or Recklessness. Recklessness is particularly useful when a monster has a high armor level. When you want to dish out damage, it is best to use Curse of Agony. The damage applied will start slow, and increase over the life of the curse. This means you may get a taunt onto yourself, so use with caution. Curse of Toungues is best used against casting monsters. Curse of Elements, is obviously useful to reduce a monster's ability to resist a particular class of spells. All in all it is best to suit the curse to your immediate needs and be ready to shift them as your needs shift.